get in an aeroplane and go home before you spend another penny

Soho and Nolita ... sigh. This is where you can louboutin shoes shop like Carrie from Sex And The City, hang with the weird Japanese fashion kids, see Sharleen Spiteri trying on jeans at Helmut Lang. In fact Helmut Lang's flagship store on Greene Street is as good a place to get credit card cramp as any. The enigmatic Austrian combines cutting-edge cool with a kind of grown-up polish that feels very appropriate for these glamorously narrow, gallery-lined streets and this shop has the best selection of dirty denim, fitted shirts and dresses, sleek accessories and his signature fragrance in the world. The assistants are delightful and don't laugh when you can't button things up.

For the young and gorgeous there is Miu Miu, the Prada diffusion line favoured by MTV types. For rock stars buying outfits for the chicks in video shoots, there is Anna Sui. (It's true. I saw two old boys who must be in Aerosmith or something buying flowery things with corsets attached in every colour.) For the rock chick who buys her own clothes there is Darryl K, patron saint of cool cords and suede slacks. Along the road is Katyone Adeli who, it has been claimed by Gwyneth Paltrow, Shirley Manson and others, makes the most flattering trousers in the world. It must be true because there were hardly any left when I was there. I can, however, confirm that the knitwear, skirts and leather coats are pretty damn enticing also.

Designer Kate Spade has achieved handbag hegemony and her boxy yet fresh bags swing from the shoulder of every New Yorker worth her manicure. Her shop is small, neat and full of bags which cleverly walk the line between smart and groovy. This could be why they are so popular. christian louboutin shoes are another New York obsession and Sigerson Morrison has the most outre, mouthwatering, I-want-it -now selection in colours rarely seen between toe and ankle. John Fluevog is pretty wacky too. This is where to search for the perfect pair of sandals to go with that $ 10 thrift store dress.

Actually, the thrift store dress might well have to wait until you get home. There are second hand shops in Manhattan but they tend to be either overpriced or hard to find. If you are on a budget, and have limited time, it's easier to buy new. All New Yorkers love a bargain. Produce a garment from a flashy carrier bag and they will say, disapprovingly, "I hope it was on sale". There are huge tatty discount stores where those with a PhD in jumblesaleology may well find a life-affirming bargain and street stalls where you can buy a "Kate Spade" handbag for $ 30, around a tenth of the price of the real thing. "Prada" purses start at $ 5. Buy them in bulk and negotiate a discount.

The place christian louboutin to start on a serious bargain hunt is Broadway, below the Flatiron Building. With New York University on one side of the street, the other is full of funky places selling sparkly tops, faux-Burberry skirts, flared cords and other educational essentials. Chains Xoxo and Le Chateau are more like our British High Street friends, but with a Stateside slant. Scoop is not a cheap shop - in fact it is a temple to groovy New York style with prices to match and a great one-stop shop for the loaded and funky. If that's not you, sigh at the embroidered handbags, swoon over the purple suede jackets then move on, girl.

Urban Outfitters and Canal Jeans are huge and exhausting but reward the dedicated with Visa-friendly denim, little tops, things with hoods and bags with lots of straps and pouches. The street stalls are well worth a snoop as well and the small fleamarket beside Tower Records, at Broadway and East 4th has the coolest T-shirts, the most convincing fakes, the best earrings. One or two stalls even accept credit cards but this is one place where you will need cash.

Down towards Chinatown the copies are more mainstream but there are other treats: semi-precious stones, embroidered slippers, paper lanterns, Hello Kitty on everything imaginable. Plus live sea creatures and esoteric vegetables, but these are less appealing for the transient shopper. This is, however, a great place to pick up a large plastic laundry bag in which to transport all your new purchases home.

And if that adrenaline-inducing bargain is still elusive, there is always Century 21, a down-at-heel discount department store opposite the World Trade Centre. Go early in the morning, because it gets scarily busy, and remember that you can only try on designer clothes. Other stuff is sale or return within 21 days - but why else would McDonald's have those nice clean toilets? There are other discounters - Daffy's, Dollar Bill's, Loehmann's - but if you can only face one, make it C21.

Then get in an aeroplane and go home before you spend another penny